Remember the Candles?
by LionessoftheEast
Summary: When Sirius finds out about Regulus's Dark Mark, he retreats to the roof of 12, Grimmauld Place. Regulus, told to get him to come down, begs Sirius to remember a time when everything was a little bit simpler. A short fic with a scene about Sirius's childhood.


Hi guys. So this is just a little Sirius and Regulus brotherhood thing I've been wanting to write. When they start playing with the candles, I realized I wrote it a bit like the first ballroom scene in Frozen where they're playing with the snow. I don't think I should list it as a crossover, but if you think so please send in a review. Thanks!

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Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter, or it's plots and characters (or Frozen, if it applies)

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Sirius sat on the roof of his family's townhouse in London. His grays eyes scanned the small green in front of the house, taking in the grass, wilted from the summer heat, the muggle children playing football in the dirt, and the beaten down cars pulled into the small drives next to all of the houses but his.

Grimmauld Place had never been a particularly happy street for Sirius, even when he hadn't loathed his family. As a child, he was stuck inside on even the nicest days for fear of "mixing with the animals." His parents considered animals synonymous with muggles. When he was little, it had simply been a fact of life, but he despised it now.

The roof was a sort of hiding place. It was predictable, sure, especially for a daring, impulsive Gryffindor like Sirius, but his parents would never dare venture on to the slippery roof tiles, and hopefully Regulus wouldn't bother to. He often spent hours up on the roof, talking through the mirrors James had gotten one year for Christmas. He sent letters here too, to avoid the harsh glares of his parents as they watched their son send friendly letters to blood traitors.

It seemed, however, that Sirius's hiding place had been invaded. He didn't react as he heard the window slam open and the slap of shoes against the wrought iron fence of the balcony and then on the slate tiles.

"Sirius." It was Regulus, the git. His sleeve had been pulled over his forearm all through breakfast that morning, hoping to hide the new tattoo from his brother. As if Sirius hadn't noticed. It was obvious what was under the black fabric. A certain skull with a snake coming out of the mouth. Regulus was a Death Eater now.

Sirius could tell himself a billion times that Regulus was a git and that he didn't care about him anymore, but it would be a lie. He might hate his parents, but Regulus had once been Reg, his little brother and his best friend.

Quite the opposite now, though.

"Sirius, come on. You have to come down sometime." Regulus's voice was pleading, something Sirius didn't often hear from him. Perhaps a year ago, Sirius might have answered somewhat civilly, but the situation had changed.

_He's a snake now. _

Deciding to remain stubborn, Sirius fixed his eyes upon the muggle goalie in the green below. He was not going to answer.

"Please."

He was not going to answer.

"It's just a tattoo!"

"Just a tattoo?" Sirius whirled around, his gray eyes glaring at Regulus's identical ones. It was something he had come to dislike, their similar appearances. It was obvious to everyone at Hogwarts that they were brothers, something Sirius was eighty percent sure he wanted to forget.

"Just a tattoo?" Sirius repeated, caught between laughing derisively and shaking his head. In the spur of the moment, he did both. "Slytherin was just a house, sure. But the people with those tattoos kill my friends, Reg! They kill innocent people! And now you're one of them!"

A flash of hope flickered in Regulus's pleading eyes at the word "Reg", but it had disappeared by the end of his brother's rant. He gulped, waiting for Sirius to continue.

For a few moments the older stared sadly at the younger, as if wishing for something. Finally, he spoke again.

"Why are you even up here, anyway?'

Regulus shrugged. "Mother sent me."

"Of course she did," Sirius said with a snort. "Well you can tell Mother she can go-"

"-Don't finish that sentence," Regulus cut in, wincing. "Just... please. You need to come down. Or she'll be mad."

"I'm terrified," Sirius said, sarcastically. Sure, his mother mad was not a pretty sight, but he had dealt with it since he was eleven. He would deal with it now.

"Oh come on! What's it going to take for you to stop being mad?" Regulus burst out, shouting. The wind carried his words to the green below and some of the muggles looked up, confused.

"Nothing, you dirty snake. Going to tattle to your precious Dark Lord now too, hmm?" Sirius mocked, grinning savagely. It might have worked on Snape. He might have been able to pull it off, but Snape was just some kid at school and Regulus was his little brother. His words lost their power at the end, trailing off as both boys studied their feet.

"I'm sorry, okay! It's not like I had a choice. Please, Siri. Listen. I'm still the little kid from before school! I'm still the kid who you used to actually talk to! Remember that guy? Remember the candles?"

Sirius studied Regulus's face, remembering.

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An eight year old Sirius frowned at the comic book in front of him. It was a wizarding comic book, and wizarding comic books weren't nearly as enticing as muggle ones, but the day was dismal and he had nothing else to do. His cousins, Bella, Cissy, and Andy were visiting. Bella was vindictive, Cissy was snobby, and Andy was out and about somewhere in muggle London. Sirius was under orders not to mention it to his Aunt Druella.

He flipped through the comic book, snorting in disgust at the characters. The paintings in the book didn't even talk. It was like staring at photographs. Wizards were horrible storytellers, honestly. He longed for one of the smuggled comic books that Andy always brought home for him. They were quickly discarded in the fire to destroy the evidence, but the few minutes of a good story were worth it.

A knock rang out on his thick wooden door. Too lazy to stir from his spot on the bed, Sirius called, "It's open!"

The hinges creaked, and the knob slammed into the wall as it swung open. Regulus stood in the hallway, his toes, swathed in his socks, tapping on the floor. His gray eyes twinkled with excitement, and a grin split across his face, showing crooked teeth.

"Mummy and Auntie and Bella and Cissy are all in the parlor having tea and Kreacher's in the kitchen and Andy and Daddy are out!" He proclaimed in a rush, still grinning.

Sirius squinted at him, trying to figure out where this was going.

"Want to do the candles?" Regulus finished, shouting this time. He jumped up, landing on the balls of his feet, too excited to stand quietly. "Do ya?"

A grin identical to Regulus's split across Sirius's face. "Yeah!"

He followed Regulus in their race down the hall to the staircase. With a smooth jump, Sirius sat on the railing and slid down, launching himself head over heels near the bottom with a flip that denied physics, landing on his feet. He had always been able to control his accidental magic. It was one of his special talents.

Regulus, though having shown his magical heritage, couldn't control his magic yet and was forced to stumble down the stairs, his legs moving faster than the rest of his body. He missed the last step and landed in a heap on the ground, but jumped up with a little giggle and followed Sirius to the entrance hall.

The two boys stopped at the doorway, gazing through the dark up at the giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling, each slot filled with a magical candle. Regulus stood next to Sirius, gazing up at him, waiting to start the fun. Sirius grinned back, and with a snap of his fingers, each candle wick burst into flame.

"Ready?" Sirius said. Regulus nodded eagerly, watching as, with a wave of Sirius's hand, the candles lifted from their places on the chandelier, floating to rest in midair around the room. Regulus laughed with delight, spinning around with the floating lights, his shadow flickering on the walls.

Sirius, unfortunately, could not make the candles move. They hung in the air, their ethereal beauty surprisingly appreciated by the two boys. They liked the way the shadows danced across the ceiling and walls and the way the flames flickered in the wind stirred up by their flying limbs. It was their favorite thing to do, though their mother had deemed their silly games stupid and time wasting long ago.

They had promptly ignored her. It was one of Sirius's best qualities, knowing who to ignore.

Regulus was laughing, spinning around, swirls of harmless flames caught in the wind he left behind, jumping from candle to candle. Sirius spun too, sometimes slapping hands with Regulus, sending them spinning off course as a result.

They were having a contest to see who could touch the highest candle when they heard the doorknob jiggle. With another snap of Sirius's fingers, the candle lights dimmed. The two brothers stood next to each other in the dark, each holding their breath, hoping it wasn't their father about to step into the hall.

Light flooded into the entrance hall, streaming through the doorway. Sirius and Regulus stood too far back to be seen, but the figure looked toward as if she knew they were there.

Yes- it was a she. It was not their father. It was Andy!

Andromeda Black frowned and looked around the seemingly empty entrance hall- she couldn't see Sirius or Regulus, it seemed. With a snap of her fingers, the candles, still suspended in the air, lit up at once, betraying the two boys.

"Andy!" Sirius said nervously. "You can't tell mother! She'll kill us. She will, she really will!" Regulus, behind him, nodded agreeably. He put his little hands together in a pleading gesture, and added a pout to his lips.

Andromeda seemed a bit taken back by her little cousins' response. The brothers hadn't noticed that her skirt was rumpled and her shirt was messily buttoned, or that her hair was still up in it's ponytail. Most of all, it appeared they hadn't noticed the Converse Chuck Taylors she had in her arms. She had been walking with Ted, and had changed back into her formal clothes in a hurry after discarding the muggle jeans and t-shirt she had been wearing.

She smiled, finally, at Sirius and Regulus. "I won't tell your mother if you don't tell mine I've been out."

Sirius clapped a hand over Regulus's mouth and nodded furiously, his grin returned. Regulus quickly shoved the hand away and let out a whoop of laughter. Andromeda grinned, spinning around under the candles slowly, admiring them.

"Merlin, how did you do that?" She said, amazed.

"Easy. Accidental magic," Sirius replied, ready to show off for his cousin. He waved his hand, and the candles zoomed back to their places on the chandelier. "I can make them go back too," he added confidently.

She smiled, and drew her wand. "The Ministry won't be able to tell who performed the magic- your parents are here. What do you say, we make the candles really fly?" With a wave of her wand, the newly placed candles floated down to within Sirius and Regulus's reach. But instead of stopping there, they began to float around, making swirling patterns of light around the room. The boys laughed, already beginning to spin.

And even though Andromeda was years too old to do this, she grinned and began to spin too.

* * *

Sirius sighed, frowning at Regulus. The candles. Of course he remembered them. It was their favorite game when they were little, something Sirius thought about every time he noticed the chandelier. When Andromeda was helping, it made the game even more fun.

That was a long time ago, though. Regulus didn't have a tattoo on his arm then. Sirius wasn't a Gryffindor then. No one in their family hated him.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. Everything was so much easier then. Voldemort wasn't gaining power. No one was dying. War tended to draw lines in between people.

A line had been drawn in between him and Regulus. There was no denying it; Regulus had became a member of the very group James's parents fought against, who had killed Lily's parents.

_He's not my brother anymore. _Sirius wanted to say it, to end it now, but he found the words wouldn't come out. He looked down at his feet, and settled with, "You aren't that little kid anymore. You're a Death Eater." He didn't look up.

He heard the slam of the window to tell him Regulus was gone. Slowly, Sirius turned back around to watch the muggles on the street below.


End file.
